The majority No voters rejected an amendment[1] to the Coroners and Justice Bill. The amendment would have required the explicit approval of the head of the judiciary before a government minister could suspend an inquest and replace it with an inquiry[2].

The Lord Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary. The relevant government minister is the Lord Chancellor, currently Jack Straw MP, the Minister for Justice.

Jack Straw claimed that the proposed addition was legislating unnecessarily as it followed that if the Lord Chief Justice had appointed a judge then he approved the request to suspend the coroner's investigation. He described the situation prior to the proposed addition as already being: "as clear as a pikestaff"[3].

If one accepts the Minister's argument then this was not a vote on the question of if a Minister ought be given the power to suspend an inquest. Those disagreeing saw the additional condition as a necessary "additional safeguard and reassurance".[4]

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